Denial
by Artemis Delos
Summary: They never found a body. There's no way she's dead. There's no proof. Sure, no one's proved that she's alive but no one's proved that she's dead either. She's a survivor. She absolutely has to be alive. She wouldn't just leave us.


They never found a body. There's no way she's dead. There's no proof. Sure, no one's proved that she's alive but no one's proved that she's dead either. She's a survivor. She absolutely has to be alive. She wouldn't just leave use, leave M'gann, leave Conner, leave Kaldur, leave Robin, leave Zatanna or Rocket or Roy. She wouldn't leave me.

I've tried to find her, tried to show the others that she's still alive. No one believes me. They all say I'm crazy – crazy to think that she's still out there somewhere, living and breathing like the rest of us and being snarky the way that only she can. She's still out there, out there being so beautiful, so person, so amazing, such a spitfire.

If she's out there – which she is – then there is no way that I will give up on her – give up waiting to see her again. I will wait for the rest of my life if necessary, just to see my spitfire again.

I don't care if people think I'm crazy! No matter what they say, I will not stop waiting for you. I don't care about anything else. I just need to see you again – have you back here where you belong, with me.

I need you. I need to hear your voice, hear you call me Baywatch or Kid Idiot or Kid Mouth or anything! I just need to hear you say something to me or M'gann or Conner or anyone! I need to see you; I need to feel you here beside me, whacking me in the arm whenever I say something stupid. We all need you. Roy's a good replacement archer – a replacement for a replacement, huh? – but he's no you. We need you here, need you to make a snarky remark or a retort to anything anyone says.

We can't function without you. After you left, and they said that you were dead – which I don't believe because it's not true at all – everything fell apart. M'gann completely broke down and locked herself in her room, only letting Conner in after he threatened to break her door down. Conner wasn't doing so well either, exploding into fits of rage and destroying anything in sight. He never learned how to control his emotions after you left and stopped teaching him how to control himself. Kaldur and Rocket had to physically stop him from destroying the stuff in your room. Kaldur hasn't been himself either. He's even quieter and almost completely withdrawn from the rest of us. Rocket's been helping him, asking him to teach her how to swim to take his mind off of you. She doesn't know you that well so she isn't as devastated as the rest of them. Robin's a mess, as is Zatanna. The way you disappeared, falling off the edge of that tall building, it reminded him of the day his parents died, at least that's the only explanation I have for him going completely mental. He's refused to speak to anyone, even me. He's barely at the Cave anymore either, and when he is, he's usually trying to comfort Zatanna. She first lost her dad and now you? Her first and closest friend on this team? Well, she didn't actually lose you, since you're still alive, just not here at the Cave with us or in Star City with Green Arrow. Speaking of Arrows, Roy's been completely distraught over your disappearance. He keeps telling us that he should have been nicer to you and told you that he was just jealous that Green Arrow loved you as much as him and of how Ollie treated you as his daughter, even though you were just an con and ex-con's daughter.

I don't understand why everyone is so distraught. I mean, it's not like you're dead or anything. You've just left us for a short time, waiting to come back. Please, come back now.

It hurts to see anything that reminds me of you. The color green, just like your hero costume; arrows, your weapon of choice; storm clouds, the exact same color as your eyes; the sun, as golden yellow as your beautiful hair. All of these remind me of something I don't have. You.

Sometimes your name comes up in conversation or you get indirectly mentioned, and everyone goes quiet. It makes me want to scream at them, ask them why they don't understand that you're not dead. How can they think that you would give up so easily? That's not the girl I know, the girl I love.

Please, Artemis, come back to us – to me. I need you here, and I will never stop waiting for you to come home.


End file.
